Holiday Classes
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Dumbledore sets up a voluntary Defence class for the summer holidays after Harry's fourth year, and McGonagall and Snape have to lead the project. Due to being sick, Harry won't be able to attend much of his classes, but he'll still be in for some fun. AU


**Holiday**** Classes**

_I wrote this short story for one of my readers, Rhonwen Holcombe, because she is sick in spite of not being at home at the moment. Just like your sister, Gwendolyn, I hope that you'll feel better soon, Rhonwen!_

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Harry could hardly keep his eyes open as he crossed the next point out of the long list of chores his aunt had handed him in the morning, before the Dursleys had left for a weekend at the seaside. '_All right, let's do some weeding_,' he thought, yawning as he headed out into the garden that was extremely bright and hot under the glaring summer sun.

Four weeks before, Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts had ended with the resurrection of Voldemort and the death of Cedric, for which Harry still felt responsible. Ever since he had returned to the Dursleys, nightmares about that fateful day had plagued his nights, and recently he had slept less and less during the nights, afraid that his relatives would witness his nightmares and punish him for disturbing their nights.

Yawning, Harry turned to the flowerbed, not aware of the fact that he was slowly drifting off to sleep. He only woke up when it was completely dark. '_Oh no, I fell asleep in the garden_,' he mused, noticing that his whole body was sore and he was shivering violently from the cold of the night in spite of the fact that his skin felt burning hot. '_What happened to me?_' he thought horrified as he slowly dragged himself up to his room. In the dimly lit room, he had the impression as if the skin of the bare upper part of his body was completely red. Only his legs that had been covered by his jeans and his back, on which he had been laying during the afternoon, felt normal. '_Sunburn_,' he realised, glad that he was able to lie on his back and try to sleep some more.

In the morning, Harry woke up, feeling horrible. His skin still felt as if it was on fire because of the sunburn covering his arms, stomach and chest. His face was all right, because it had been in the shadow when he slept outside. Additionally he had caught a cold, probably from sleeping out in the fresh night air without his clothes but with his bad sunburn. '_Well, there is nothing I can do about it_,' he mused. '_I can't do magic, apart from the fact that I wouldn't know which spell to cast anyway. The only thing I know is that I have to get on with my chores; otherwise, my back will be sore as well tonight_.'

Just when he scrambled out of bed, an elder barn owl made its way through the half open window into his room, carrying a letter. '_From Hogwarts_,' Harry noticed in surprise.

'_Dear Mr. Potter_,' the letter read,  
'_Due to the worrisome news about the resurrection of Voldemort at the end of the last school year, we have decided to offer a voluntary Defence class for all fifth year students. The class will take place at Hogwarts during the last week of July and the first week of August. Professors McGonagall and Snape will be responsible for the group and will act as your guardians during the two weeks.  
There will be classes in the mornings and in the afternoons, while we are planning several additional introductory courses to Occlumency, Animagus training and Wandless Magic during the class free time.  
If you're interested to participate, please send us your reply immediately. In that case, this letter will turn into a Portkey on Sunday afternoon at two o'clock. It will take you to Hogwarts, where you will live in a dormitory tent for the time of your stay. The letter will also act as Portkey to take you back to your home exactly two weeks later.  
Please note that these two weeks won't be holiday weeks but two study weeks involving much work for all participants.  
We hope to see you on Sunday,  
Albus Dumbledore._'

Harry read the letter three times, unable to believe his luck. '_I'm going to get away from here for two full weeks? Plus, we'll get some Defence training and will be able to learn how to become an Animagus! That's absolutely fantastic!_' he thought, sitting down at his desk to compose his reply, glad that his backside was not sunburned.

'_Dear Professor Dumbledore,  
Thanks a lot for the invitation. Of course I'd like to participate in all offered courses, and I'm looking forward to coming back to Hogwarts.  
Best regards and I'll see you on Sunday,  
Harry Potter_'

"Thanks for waiting. Please take this back to Professor Dumbledore or to Professor McGonagall," he told the school owl, gently fastening the letter to her foot.

The owl shoo-hooed affirmatively and took off, while Harry lay down on his bed for a moment, happily thinking, '_Only one week and I'll get away from here for two weeks. Maybe after that Dumbledore will allow me to go to the Weasleys or somewhere else!_'

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The next few days passed much too slowly for Harry's liking. Over the whole week, his sunburn remained as bad as it had been at first, and his cold didn't improve either. His chest was sore, not only from outside but also from inside, and he had a terrible cough. When he was doing his chores, he always covered his burning skin with long sleeved T-shirts to save his skin from the sun, but this precaution only caused him additional pain at the touch of the cloth to his skin that was slowly becoming infected due to the neglect.

By the time he got up on Sunday morning, he felt so awful that he couldn't even look forward to going to Hogwarts, although he felt relieved, knowing that he would be able to get help at the school if he really needed it. He finally told the Dursleys that he was going to leave for two weeks, and his relatives expressed instantly how much their appreciated the matter.

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At exactly two o'clock on Sunday afternoon, Harry felt a well-known pull behind his navel as the Portkey activated. '_Oh no_,' he mused, remembering in horror how the Portkey had taken Cedric and him to the graveyard just a month before. However, seconds later, Harry sighed in relief as he found himself together with a small group of his classmates on the Hogwarts grounds. Apart from Harry, the only other Gryffindor students were Dean and Neville. Blaise Zabini, Draco Malfoy and Terry Boot were there as well as Susan Bones, Mandy Brocklehurst, Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode.

'_Ron and Hermione are not here_,' Harry mused in slight disappointment as he glanced around, noticing a small tent just beside the lake. '_Oh, that's probably a magical tent like the one at the Quidditch world cup last year_,' he thought, absently listening to the Headmaster's announcements.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts," Dumbledore greeted the group. "During the day, the castle will of course be open to all of you. However, since students are not allowed to remain in the castle during the summer holidays, you're going to stay in your tent overnight. Don't be afraid; the tent is charmed and is much larger on the inside. It consists of a common room, a boys' and a girls' dormitory, two teacher's rooms for Professors McGonagall and Snape, two large bathrooms and a dining kitchen. Of course, the Hogwarts elves will provide you with everything you need, and you know where to find me in case you have any problems, which your teachers can't solve."

"Very well then, follow me," Snape said as he turned on his heels and strode towards the tent with his robes dramatically billowing behind him. "Take your bags into your dormitories. We'll meet out on the grounds again for our first class that will commence in twenty minutes."

'_Wow, this is fantastic_,' Harry mused as he entered the tent, glad to be out of the sunshine for a few minutes. '_This is much more comfortable than the Dursleys' home, and it's huge_.' He slowly followed the other boys into the dormitory, smiling as he saw that Neville and Dean had gently reserved the bed between them for him. "Thank you," he said, smiling, as he stretched out on the comfortable looking bed for a moment.

Harry flinched back badly, when Neville lightly touched his shoulder to wake him up ten minutes later. "Harry, we have to go back outside," he said gently, causing Harry to jerk awake.

"Oh right, sorry," he mumbled, quickly scrambling out of his bed. '_I hope we'll be allowed to do magic outside classes. I need to cast a Silencing charm around my bed_,' he mused and hesitantly asked Professor McGonagall, who happened to leave the tent together with him. "Professor, are we allowed to do magic here at all times?"

"Yes Mr. Potter," his Head of House replied briskly. "How else would you be able to practise, or do you expect to not receive homework only because you're staying overnight in a tent?"

"Oh right," Harry said in confusion, "sorry Professor."

"It's all right, Potter," the Scottish lioness said in a much softer tone and gently patted him on the shoulder, causing Harry to flinch back badly. "I'm not going to hurt you, Potter," McGonagall said, throwing Harry a surprised look. "Are you all right, Harry?" she asked in concern.

"Yes, I'm fine," Harry replied, just when Professor Snape began to speak.

"As we all know, the Dark Lord has returned a month ago. Therefore, your professors have decided that you and your classmates need additional training in Defence Against the Dark Arts, especially as there are persons among us, who tend to exceptionally attract the Dark Lord's attention."

Harry groaned inwardly but managed to keep his face blank as the professor continued his monologue. His head was pounding badly, and none of the professor's next words were able to penetrate his foggy mind. '_I just hope he'll pair me with Neville or Dean_,' he mused when Snape began to pair the students. However, his hope diminished quickly when the professor called his name.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Zabini..."

Harry dragged himself over to Draco, groaning inwardly as the Slytherin shot him a smug glance when the professor ordered them to begin with the Expelliarmus spell and the Protego spell. He noticed soon that he was in no condition to win against Draco, and by the time the professor finally decided they had practised enough and dismissed the group, Draco threw him a sharp look. "Are you feeling all right, Potter? Normally, you're not as easy to beat."

"I'm fine," Harry replied in a small voice, sighing in relief as the professor told them they were free to do as they wanted until they were expected in the tent's dining room at six o'clock sharp for dinner.

"Let's play Quidditch," Draco shouted, causing everyone but Harry and Neville to happily agree.

"I need to write a letter to my Granny," Neville whispered to Harry, who gave him an understanding nod and accompanied Neville into the tent, glad to be able to lie down for a while.

"I'm going to take a short nap," he admitted to his friend. "I didn't sleep well recently."

"Oh, is it because... you know... I'm here, if you need someone to talk," Neville said softly, throwing Harry a concerned look.

"Thank you, Neville. I'll make sure to remember that," he replied gratefully, knowing that he didn't want to speak about the matter with anyone.

Unfortunately, his short nap didn't make him feel much better, and Harry dragged himself during the rest of the day, trying to hide from everyone how bad he felt. After a light dinner, the group sat together on the shore of the lake, drinking butterbeer and listening to funny stories, which the professors told them from their own time as students at Hogwarts. '_I'd have never thought that McGonagall would play pranks_,' he mused as his Head of House admitted how she had cast a charm on Professor Dumbledore that made all the candles in a room extinguish as soon as Dumbledore entered the room.

When everyone except for Professor McGonagall, Neville and Harry headed out for a swim in the lake, the professor threw Harry a worried look, noticing that he was shivering and had dark rings under his eyes. "Harry, are you feeling all right?"

"Yes of course; I just didn't get enough sleep recently," Harry lied and hesitantly asked, "Professor, would it be all right to head to bed early?"

"Of course, Harry, go to bed, and remember to come to me or send someone to fetch me if you have any problems."

"I'll come with you," Neville offered, and the two boys retreated to their dormitory.

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"Severus, when you go and check on the boys later on, could you unobtrusively check on Mr. Potter please? I'm afraid that he is not feeling well," the Gryffindor Head asked her colleague. "He didn't play Quidditch with the others in the afternoon, he didn't go swimming with them, and he hardly ate anything tonight. Instead, he went to bed at the earliest chance."

"Oh well, if Potter doesn't play Quidditch, he must be seriously ill," Snape sneered but promised to take a look at the boy when he checked the dormitory after curfew.

McGonagall nearly jumped startled when she left the girls' dormitory and her colleague stood right in front of her. "Minerva, the boy is suffering from a second grade sunburn, which is at least a week old and completely infected, as well as pneumonia. He has a fever of forty degrees. How could his doting family not notice that something was wrong and keep him at home?"

"Because they abuse and neglect him, a fact that Albus just doesn't want to accept," McGonagall replied angrily. "Poppy and I have spoken to him about Harry's treatment at the Dursleys' several times each year, since he first arrived at Hogwarts. What are we going to do with him?"

"I'll go and brew a salve for his skin and fetch a few potions from my lab. I'll be back in a little less than two hours," Snape said in a soft voice and hurriedly left the tent, while the Scottish lioness restlessly paced the common room, thinking about how she was going to give the Headmaster a piece of her mind in the morning.

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When Harry woke up in the morning, his Head of House was sitting on the edge of his bed, reading an old tome, but otherwise the dormitory was completely empty.

"Am I late?" he asked, terrified, and tried to quickly get into a sitting position but felt himself being pushed back.

"You're very ill, Harry," McGonagall informed him in a soft voice. "Why didn't you tell me that you were unwell?"

"It's not a big deal," Harry mumbled, averting his eyes to his covers in embarrassment.

"When Professor Snape checked on you during the night, you were running a fever of forty degrees. You have sunburn, which is badly infected, and you somehow managed to neglect a cold that turned into pneumonia," McGonagall said sternly. "Did your aunt not notice how ill you were?" she asked softly, gently wiping Harry's flushed face with a cool cloth.

"Feels good," Harry mumbled, unconsciously reaching for the professor's hand. "No professor, she doesn't care anyway." Suddenly, a terrible thought penetrated his mind. "Will I have to go back to the Dursleys, if I can't attend class today?" he asked, terrified.

"No Harry, of course not. You may stay here; however, according to Professor Snape, you'll have to remain in bed or at least stay put and rest for at least a week. Fortunately, we'll both be here for the whole time, so that we can take turns looking after you."

"Won't Professor Snape say that Voldemort wouldn't care if I was sick, Professor? I still need to learn Defence after what happened last month, and I'm already feeling much better."

"You're only feeling better because I spelled a whole batch of potions into your system, Mr. Potter," Snape sneered as he swept through the dormitory. "I let the dunderheads go until lunch," he informed his colleague in an even voice, before he pointed his wand at Harry's head to take his temperature and quietly began to question him about the previous week.

"Severus, if you're going to stay with Harry for the moment, I'll go and speak with Albus. He can't make the boy go back to such a neglecting family," McGonagall said indignantly.

"Minerva, please wait a moment," Snape replied in his soft, silky voice. "Mr. Potter, have you ever spoken to Professor Dumbledore about your relatives?"

"I've been begging him to allow me to stay at Hogwarts over the summer every year, but he never agreed. He always told me I had to go back there because of the blood wards..."

"Which is complete nonsense, considering that the Dark Lord received your blood last month," Snape sneered, turning back to his colleague. "Minerva, let me go and speak with him. I'll be back in time for lunch and Mr. Potter's potions." With that, he crossed the room in his usual fast pace.

"Who was that, and what did he do to Professor Snape?" Harry croaked, looking at his Head of House in surprise.

"You just have to get to know Professor Snape, Harry. In spite of his tough exterior, he has a very sensitive heart," McGonagall said softly as she gently adjusted the cool cloth on Harry's forehead.

"All right," Harry replied tiredly, already drifting back to sleep.

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Later in the afternoon, Professor Dumbledore visited Harry and spoke with him about his relatives. "Professor Snape told me that the blood wards won't work against Voldemort anymore," he said gravely. "Therefore, I have decided to allow Professor McGonagall to become your permanent guardian, if that's all right with you."

"I'd love that sir, but I don't want to become a burden to the professor," Harry replied shyly, unable to believe his luck.

"Harry, you're not a burden, neither to me nor to anyone else," McGonagall interrupted him firmly. "I'd love to become your guardian if that's what you want."

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said gratefully, before he once again succumbed to the potions and drifted off to sleep with a happy smile playing on his lips.

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During the following few days, Harry remained very ill. However, he was in a good mood, knowing that he would never have to go back to the Dursleys. Like Professor McGonagall had promised, she and Professor Snape took turns looking after him, and Harry felt more cared for than he had ever felt in his life. Even the five other occupants of his dormitory took turns keeping Harry company from time to time. When his condition improved a little, the teachers allowed him to join his classmates for meals and for their quiet times near the lake or in the common room. Even if he was sad not to be able to participate in the Defence practice and other classes for more than a week, Harry enjoyed himself as well as he could, realising that he could even get along with the Slytherins much better than before, now that he got to know them better.

On the thirty-first of July, his classmates prepared a huge birthday party for him, which took place near the lake, where the Weasley twins performed a huge fireworks display. At the end, three large letters remained in the air that remained visible until the morning, "WWW."

"That means Weasleys Wizzarding Wheezes," the twins explained and informed everyone that Harry was their largest shareholder.

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During the last few days of their summer course, Harry was finally allowed to participate in the classes and realised gratefully that the teachers had scheduled the introductory courses to Occlumency, Animagus training and Wandless Magic for the last few days in order for him to be able to partake as well.

"I love trying to become a phoenix," Harry admitted to his new guardian after their last Animagus lesson, causing McGonagall to throw him a proud look.

"Since I'm your guardian now, I can teach you whatever you want, and we still have three weeks of summer holidays left, during which you can practise to become an Animagus," the professor replied softly.

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"Mr. Potter, please hand me your letter that Professor Dumbledore sent you three weeks ago," Snape instructed Harry on Saturday evening.

"But I still need to return to the Dursleys to fetch my trunk," Harry replied in confusion, throwing the professor a questioning look.

"Oh believe me, I'm well able to fetch your luggage," Snape replied, smirking. "I know your doting aunt well enough. Lily already suffered under her whenever she had to return home from school."

On Sunday morning, when the Potions Master travelled to the Dursleys' home with Harry's Portkey, smirking as he left, Professor McGonagall led Harry through the empty halls of the castle to her private quarters, where the house-elves had already added a room for Harry.

'_Now Hogwarts is really my home_,' Harry mused as he let his eyes wander around his room, feeling very happy. '_I have a nice guardian, and I have several new friends, even among the Slytherins, and I can even get along with Professor Snape. I'm the happiest boy in the world_.'

**The End**

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I'm not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes or help me to correct them._

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


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